The present invention relates to an apparatus for feeding sheet-like articles to a processing arrangement.
An apparatus of this type is known from EP-A-0 675 062 and the corresponding U.S. Pat. No. 5,645,679. It has a wheel-like conveying arrangement with clamps which are arranged one behind the other on the periphery and are driven along a circulatory path in the direction of circulation. These clamps can be controlled individually in terms of position and also in terms of opening and closing action. Two interacting clamping elements of a clamp form in each case one clamp mouth which, in a receiving section of the circulatory path, is oriented in the direction of circulation. Running in the radial direction in relation to the wheel-like conveying arrangement is a magazine shaft for a supply of articles arranged in a stack-like manner, such as credit cards, postcards, printed products, samples and the like. The discharge-side end of the magazine shaft is located adjacent to the receiving section of the circulatory path of the clamps, on the outer side thereof, as seen in the radial direction. A sucker arrangement with a suction head driven synchronously with the conveying arrangement is intended for gripping in each case the uppermost sheet-like article of the supply stack, on the exposed face thereof, and for lifting it off from the supply stack into the movement path of the clamps, with the result that by way of its clamp mouth, which is directed in the direction of circulation, in each case one clamp can grip the relevant article at its trailing edge in order to transport it further.
Taking this prior art as departure point, it is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus of the generic type which, along with a straightforward construction, makes it possible to process a wide range of sheet-like articles.
The apparatus according to the invention has, in the receiving section, a bearing element for the article which is to be gripped by a clamp in each case. This makes it possible for the articles to be fed individually onto the bearing element from different directions. In particular, lateral feeding of the articles is made possible, as seen in the direction of circulation of the clamps. Since the articles are arranged on a bearing element in order to be received by the clamps, that side of said articles which is directed away from the bearing element is exposed. This makes it possible, for example, to process articles which are already provided with adhesive on the side which is exposed in relation to the bearing element. Since the bearing element is designed to have a yielding capacity, it is possible to dispense with driven elements for introducing the articles into the clamps. There is no need for any dedicated drive for the bearing element.